


Who knew people would pay for doodles?

by Peaceandunity (UnityisKey)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Cards, Christmas, OC, Slytherin, easy money
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-20
Updated: 2017-11-20
Packaged: 2019-02-04 16:19:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12774792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnityisKey/pseuds/Peaceandunity
Summary: Pansy's nosiness turns into a business.OrA bored Slytherin is stylizing the house emblem and gets caught by Pansy.





	Who knew people would pay for doodles?

"You made these?" Comes a bland voice from behind me. No. No. No. Come on. Can't I get through ONE day without this?  
"...Yaaa...." I brace myself for the inevitable snide remark.  
"How much?" She asks matter-of-factly. That's Parkinson for you. But where is she going with this?  
"Excuse me?"  
"How much are you charging for them?" Interesting. Now think. Fast.  
"For what?"  
"Holiday cards."  
"Too?"  
"Family and friends."  
"How many?"  
"23."  
"Length?"  
Pause  
"Six lines."  
"Personalized?"  
"To immediate family and close friends... Seven should do it."  
"General cards will be 8 sickles a card-9 if you want addressed envelops, personalized... 11 sickles each and I'll include the envelopes on those. I will require the names of the intended recipients with indications as to who will be receiving personalized cards and then some generic info about them you would like included, plus a sample of one of your cards if you'd like it to look like you wrote them, otherwise, it's not necessary, it'll be an extra knut on the end of the order if you want them to look like they came from you. Deal?"  
"Can you have them done by tomorrow?"  
Pause  
Could I? Let's see. A generic card will probably run me around 7 minutes each, 10 if she wants them charmed...  
"Do you want them charmed in any way... 10 cards for 5 sickles per spell..."  
"Basic color charm on the generic and perhaps 2 or 3 of your own design on the personalized-yes I'll pay extra for those."  
Pause  
23 minutes per personalized with an extra 5 minutes per charm...  
Envelopes at roughly 2-3 minutes each...  
I'll need a potion.  
You still have the ever-color quills from last Christmas, and your stash of gel pens.  
"It's gonna be close. And it's going to cost you. But yes, I can have them done by tomorrow evening. 10 pm?"  
"10 pm. I'll get you the list within the hour."  
We look at each other briefly. Nod once. and go our separate ways. Her to make what's bound to be an extensive list, and me to gather my supplies and run some practice fonts.  
Alright. Corner of common room secure. Desk expanded and holding art supplies and my best paper. Snacks enchanted and placed near me. reference materials sticky noted and a notepad full of spell ideas open and is being marked accordingly. God, I hate Parkinson.  
"Here you are. One list, colour coded appropriately."  
I hold out my hand distractedly, glancing at it once before resuming my practice runs.  
She even grouped it accordingly and made notes as to the person's relation to her and indicated who she wanted to get which spell(s). I knew I forgot to ask for something. Good call Parkinson. And she included her family crest. Not that I won't be changing it of course. But a reference is still good to have.  
Personalized will take the longest to dry and set so I should start with those and then work on general and by the time I'm done the general cards the personalized will be ready for the next step and so on.  
And so it went. The first round taking longer than I had anticipated, but once I worked out a few kinks and polished some dusty spells, we were in business.  
I glance at my watch. 5 am already? Ugh. Quick power nap while the ink sets and then I can start to work on the spells to make them "Sparkle. I want them to really POP."  
Beep.  
Oh, it's seven already. I guess I should wake up. Damn you, Parkinson.  
Fuck.  
The ink spread.  
That's not good.  
Why did it...?  
"Who was casting Diffindo?"  
The people present still.  
"Theo."  
"Of course it was. When you see him, tell him he owes me an explanation."  
"Uh. oh."  
"What's this about me owing some mudblood and explanation?"  
"You cast Diffindo earlier?"  
"I might've."  
"What's rule one of this side of the room?"  
"Don't cast Diffindo."  
"And why would that be?"  
"Something about cross-contamination?"  
"Diffindo messes with delicate spell work. Which you should know by now. As in, the spell work for Pansy's Christmas cards," his face pales.  
"What-"  
"You are going to go to the library and get me these," I write down a few book titles and hand him the parchment, "and then you are going to distract Pansy while I rectify your poor judgment. And then, when this is done, we are going to have a conversation, and if all goes well that will be the end of it, if not... well... I wonder how McGonagall will feel if she were to find out, by mere coincidence, about your word choice. Or how Flitwick would feel if one of his students made such a first-year mistake. And God-forbid if he were to find out that you knew how the spell reacted and did it anyway...."  
"You are a Slytherin."  
"And you are..."  
"Getting the books."  
"Good boy." as he runs off I begin work on the non-destroyed cards, so engrossed that I barely acknowledge his return and subsequent distraction tactics.  
"Finished." glance at watch. 9:30pm. Perfect. The spell books actually ended up speeding up the rest of the cards once I had fixed the wacky ones. "Here you are Ms. Parkinson," I say handing a stack of stuffed envelopes to her.  
"And here you go." She hands me a pouch of coins and goes through them while I count the money. We nod at each other once.  
"Pleasure doing business with you."  
And we go our separate ways.  
23 Galleons. Not bad for a days work. Now to eat and sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Just a cute little whatever. Lemme know if I should continue it. It won't be a novel by any means but like 2 or 3 chaps if I continue it at all.  
> Thanks for reading. :)  
> Side note: 23 Galleons is roughly $110.62 which makes the order roughly 20 G and an added 3 for it being a rush order (I charged 5 sickles per created spell per card and rounded on the others) It's a rough estimate.


End file.
